GP wages to be public

The government is to publish details of the salaries earned by GPs as part of its new transparency agenda.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said that the new drive was designed to "win back the public's trust."

It will publish the salaries of civil servants who earn more than £58,000 a year. Next year salaries of GPs and police officers will be made public.

On 1 June the government published a list of the 171 civil servants who were paid more than £150,000 per year.

It showed that the Department of Health's chief executive David Nicholson earned between £255,000-259,000 annually and was second on the list.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said the published list of workers who were paid more than £150,000 only included civil servants.

"There is a transparency commitment to cover all public bodies. This is the direction of travel, but it will require consultation with staff," he added.

The document 'Programme for government' stated that the government needed to "throw open the doors of public bodies", and said it wanted "full, online disclosure of all central government spending and contracts over £25,000".

It added: "We also recognise that this will help to deliver better value for money in public spending, and help us achieve our aim of cutting the record deficit."